After 11 years of fundraising and construction, the former Burns Methodist Episcopal Church on West Jackson Avenue opened Saturday as the Burns-Belfry Museum and Multicultural Center.
The dedication ceremony welcomed more than 600 people, including Oxford Mayor Pat Patterson, some members of the Board of Aldermen and project donors and supporters through the years.
The museum celebrates black history as well as multicultural affairs in Oxford and in the state of Mississippi. It features information about black history on its walls, and information on video is also available and will be improved to turn the church into a digital museum.
More than just a historic landmark, Burns-Belfry is seen as a symbol of community in Oxford.
Keynote speaker Rev. Dr. LeRoy Wadlington said the building is a “glaring example” of what can take place through unity and togetherness.
“We are here because of one destiny … not just for the African-Americans of Oxford, past and present, but it will serve as a multicultural center for all of us,” said the pastor from Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Indianapolis. Wadlington emphasized the importance of “one people, one aim (and) one destiny.”
The renovation of the building was spearheaded by the Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation and Oxford Development Association. It spanned a decade of planning and lobbying for support, eventually raising around $1.2 million and going through four phases of reconstruction.
The original building was built in 1910 by freed blacks in Lafayette County who settled in an area called “Freedmen Town” after the Civil War. When the Burns congregation moved to another location in 1974, the building was renamed Belfry and was placed under different ownership.
Best-selling author and Oxonian John Grisham was its last owner. He used the building as his office before donating it to the Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation in 2002 in an effort to treasure and preserve its history.
Heritage Foundation President Jim Pryor expressed relief over the project, but he said there is still work to be done.
“I’m proud because the community has come together,” Pryor said. “It’s a milestone because we got a museum to run and a meeting place to administer and that’s the next step — to get that all organized.”
Oxford Development Association President Cynthia Parham, who performed in the event with the Oxford Mass Choir, said the building is a symbol of Oxford’s unity.
“(It will) bring us together in one place so we can do good things,” she said.
More than just a place for meetings and occasions, the museum is a place for education. The two nonprofit organizations are still working on improvements to the museum to include the history of other major cultures in the city, including early settlers and the Chickasaw. More funding is being lobbied and raised for these future projects.
Donald Cole, University of Mississippi vice-chancellor for multicultural affairs, said the building represents a spirit of cooperation that the country has been trying to foster for years. Cole said the museum plays a big role in education in Oxford.
“I can’t think of a better venue than this building because of its history and its potential to do what it has done today: bringing people together and furthering understanding,” he said.
